Stopper for vessels.



G. WEST.

STD-PPER- FOR VBSSELS. APPLICATION rum) JULY 8. 190a.

PATBNTED MAR. 19,1901

GEORG WEST, OF GODESBERG, GERMANY.

STOPPER FOR VESSELS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 19, 1907;

Application filed July 6, 1906. Serial No. 325,038.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEoRe WEST, a subj ect of the King of Prussia,residing at Godesberg-on-the-Rhine, Germany, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Stoppers for Vessels, of which the followingis a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in stoppers for vessels, and hasfor its object a stopper adapted to be torn up or cut from the vessel itcloses by means of devices attached to or forming part of said stopper.

Stoppers which are able to be opened suddenly, in which either theclosing partsay a cap, lid, or the l1keis itself formed as a deviceadapted to tear open or in which a special device adapted to tear saidclosing part opensuch as a wire, strip of metal, or the likeis provided,it frequently happens that the strength of the parts to be torn openexceeds the strength of the device adapted to tear the same open, andthe latter tears away before said stopper is completely open. Thisoccurs particularlyif the material of the stop per happens to beespeciallyhard or separable with difficulty at the place of tearing orcutting open. Such harder places, or those able to oiler resistance, arealways present in the kinds of stoppers made of sheet metal, as thesheet metal is rolled in a certain direction.

The employment of several tongues on the same stopper for opening thesame has in itself already been proposed; but these tongues werearranged parallel to and close beside one another in known stoppers, andconsequently the tearing or .cutting open took place from one place, thematerial at which place possessing the same resistance as that of thematerial to be torn open. Hence such devices did not offer suflicientcertainty of performing the opening required by them. Now thecap-stopper according to the pres ent invention is characterized by itspossessing several devices for tearing the same open, said devices beingarranged at an angle one with another in order to be able to tear or cutopen the cap in a given case in various directions in a manner known initself from the inside toward the outside. By this arrangement if onedevice for tearing the cap open tears or breaks off because it eitherdoes not possess suflicient resistance in consequence of the unfavorabledirection of the grain of the material or is op osite to a part of thecap which is able to 0 er very considerable resistance in consequence ofthe direction of the grain or fiber the other tongue or one of the othertongues at which the conditions affecting the resistance are morefavorable is able to effect the detachment.

By employing several devices for tearing the cap open arranged at anangle one with another the further advantage is obtained that a deviceadapted to tear or cut the cap open is formed by the tearing open of theedge of the cap in this itself, which can then be used if the existingdevices adapted to tear the cap open happen to be all broken off. Such astopper is illustrated in the accompanying drawing in various forms, inwhich Figures 1 and 2 are plans of two forms.

In the cap-stopper shown in Fig. 1 the lid of the cap a is itself madesuitable for tearing open the cap by two tongues b and 0 being partlystamped out, so that the places of junction 1 1 and 2 2 remain, whichpermit the cap to be torn open in two directions at right angles to oneanother. When the tongue 6 fails to act, the tongue 0 comes intooperation, and it is assumed that if the tearing open does not succeedat 1 1 an equal resistance of the rim of the cap does not exist at 2 2.More than two tongues may be arranged, and also the tongues or devicesfor tearing or cutting the cap open can be crossed in a given case atother than right angles with the rim of the cap.

In the example shown in Fig. 2 the devices for tearing or cutting thecap open are formed in a manner known in itself ofwire or strips ofsheet metal (1 e, which are likewise arranged in directions not parallelto one another.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A stopper adapted to be torn open, comprising in tombination a capadapted to engage the opening of a vessel, a plurality of tonguesattached to said cap arranged at different angles to the grain of thematerial of which said cap is made, said tongues being adapted to tearsaid cap from the inside to the outside and thereby away from saidvessel, substantially as described.

2. A stopper adapted to be torn open, comprising in comtination a capadapted to engage the opening of a vessel, a plurality of tongues in thecover of said cap arranged at difierent angles to the grain of thematerial of which said cap is made, said tongues being adapted to tearsaid cap from the inside to the outside and thereby away from saidvessel, substantially as described.

3. A stopper adapted to be torn open, comprising in combination a caphaving an open- 5 ing at the center adapted to engage the opening of aVessel, and a plurality of tongues at different angles to the grain ofthe material of which said cap is made, the free ends of said cap fromthe inside to the outside and thereby away from said vessel,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of 15 two subscribing, witnesses.

GEOHG EST.

Witnesses: v said tongues reaching 1nto said opening in l Bnssrn F.DUNLAP, ro said cap, said tongues being adapted to tear i LoUis VANDORY

